


Lady, I Love You

by ItFeelsSoWrite



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)
Genre: Christmas, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:55:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28419480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItFeelsSoWrite/pseuds/ItFeelsSoWrite
Summary: A no-conflict domestic fluff fic based entirely on the aesthetic of the Angel 2 Me Dreamcatcher cover by JiU and Yoohyeon.New homeowners JiU and Yoohyeon move into their house days before Christmas. Wanting to give something meaningful for the holiday season, they decide to create their own photoshoot for a homemade Christmas card. Featuring photographer!Yoohyeon, because the idea delights me.
Relationships: Kim Minji | JiU/Kim Yoohyeon
Comments: 11
Kudos: 73





	1. I Just Wanna Show You

"Is this really all of our stuff? I mean, between the two of us?" Yoohyeon asked as she walked through the front door, wanting for a place to drop or hang her keys. Seeing as a place had yet to be designated, she pocketed them instead and stepped further into the hall to allow JiU to file in after her. 

JiU cast her eyes about, taking in the piles of cardboard boxes, some labeled "kitchen", others "living room", "bedroom", "books", "misc.". The movers hadn't bothered to heed their labels and place the boxes accordingly, but that was alright; she was just happy there was someone willing to do such back-breaking work so close to Christmas. As sparse as their boxed belongings seemed in their newly-purchased house, everything seemed to be there.

"Well, when you've previously lived in little more than a bedroom, having to share a communal kitchen and bathroom, your belongings don't tend to take up space. It'll be nice for a change to come across a find and know we have room for it," JiU closed the door behind her, glancing down at the hardwood floor absent personality or a place to scuff off the snow from the bottom of her shoes. "I, for one, am looking forward to décor-shopping with you." She mentally added a welcome mat to the ever-growing list of things to now keep an eye out for as she toed the tennis shoes from her feet and nudged them neatly to one side. 

Yoohyeon had disappeared through the arch into the living room, so JiU followed after her, smiling in amusement at how small their furniture pieces looked in the grand, open space. A folding card table with vinyl top and four matching folding chairs leaned against a great white expanse, looking like pop-up accommodations for children rather than the dining set it had been to them in their old dorm. A smattering of build-it-yourself bookcases hugged one wall, dinged and scuffed from years of rough use, their shelves stacked and slanted sideways inside their respective casings. They would be able to retire at least two of the worse-for-wear pieces, now that they owned a living room fitted with built-in book alcoves, complete with rich cherry wood trim. 

JiU sidled up beside Yoohyeon, following her line of sight up above them to the high vaulted ceiling; she recalled from the initial viewing how wonderful the acoustics in this room proved to be. She could not wait to catch Yoohyeon singing to herself one lazy morning, shuffling from the living room into the kitchen, not a care in the world except for what to eat to start the day. Yoohyeon turned to her, eyes wide, but sparkling with new possibility.

"It's ours. _We_ own a _house_. _This_ house!" She clutched JiU by an elbow and a shoulder and shook her with excitement. JiU hunched her shoulders in turn as she laughed, riding out Yoohyeon's mirth-quake, as she had privately named them, until the magnitude 6.0 tapered off to a manageable 2.5. "I never thought I would ever own something so nice." JiU jutted her bottom lip in a pout.

"No? So the house is nicer than I am?"

"I mean, kinda," Yoohyeon shrugged with a slight grin, slinking behind JiU and wrapping her arms around her waist before the woman could pull away indignantly. "In the sense that we get to decide what it will be together. It's a perfect blank slate. Like untouched snow. A canvas we both get to paint on to communicate to others who we are as a couple." Notching her chin atop JiU's shoulder, Yoohyeon raised an arm to point to one of the overwhelmingly-white walls. "I think that spot would be perfect for our family photos. What do you think? Sort of like a family tree motif, I'm thinking, with our parents up top, us in the center, and below pictures of Cherry and Pie. Branching out from there, pictures of our brothers, of the members." JiU nodded in quiet agreement, envisioning as Yoohyeon conducted with a finger. 

"Your award-winners can go over there. Stack them up gallery style on either side of the windows. Frames framing a frame," JiU suggested, pointing to the narrow gaps of the adjacent wall, mostly glass looking out onto their front yard, neatly trimmed and powdered with the remnants of last night's snowfall.

"Now you're getting into the spirit!"

"Speaking of," JiU turned in Yoohyeon's arms, wrapping her own loosely around Yoohyeon's neck. With everything pushed up against the wall, the hardwood lent itself to a generous dance floor; JiU tucked this little realization away, blinking away the urge to lean into Yoohyeon's body and start a rhythmic sway. The day was early, true, but there was much to be done if they hoped to celebrate Christmas in any sort of style. "I was thinking, I know it's last minute and we haven't even begun to unpack, but I'd really like to send out a Christmas card this year, with our home as the backdrop. A digital one, of course!" JiU emphasized, seeing Yoohyeon's eyebrows hike up with the pricey logistics of express-mailing however many quality-printed photographs. "Mostly for our parents. I don't know about you, but after all the help they've given us this past month, an air fryer and a new vacuum just doesn't seem personal enough of gifts for them."

"I think it's a sweet idea," Yoohyeon murmured, then pursed her lips and hummed a note of thought as she looked around the living room once more, eyes skimming past, then returning to the fireplace. "Nothing says home like a hearth. We could get the Christmas tree up and decorated just there," Yoohyeon squinted one eye closed as she made a 90° angle with her thumb and index and traced it in the air just off of the marbled mantle. "Throw a couple things up on the mantle to make it look like we actually live here. Yeah, I think that's doable in an afternoon. But we'll need to work quickly if we want to keep the daylight."

"Yeah?" JiU asked, searching Yoohyeon's expression. Already, she could see Yoohyeon staging the backdrop as her eyes flitted to fixed points in the area.

"Help me find my Canon."

* ☃ * ☃ * ☃ * ☃ *

The Christmas tree was absolutely dwarfed by the room, a measly four-footer that had been perfect for the space they originally bought it for, now completely out of its depth. JiU and Yoohyeon could not stop giggling as they dressed the tiny tree with the odd assortment of shatter-proof ornaments they had collected throughout the years. Time had proven that delicate ornaments did not last long in a space subjected to SuA's rough-housing, and though that would no longer be the case, in due time, these ornaments would survive the whirling dervish that was puppy Pie as she acclimated to having another dog to play with. 

"The star doesn't have a cavity!" Yoohyeon bemoaned, showing the only star-shaped decoration to JiU, tugging at the chord looped through its top for emphasis. "Who _hangs_ a star? Stars are meant to sit up top." JiU frowned and searched through the shallow remains of the ornament box, coming up empty.

"I guess the topper belonged to one of the other girls."

"Do we have an angel?" JiU searched again and again came up empty. She shook her head. Resigned, Yoohyeon draped the star off the topmost branch, scowling as she watched the branch bend under its weight, drooping the star gently off to one side. JiU stood up to view the star from Yoohyeon's perspective, caging a laugh with tightly-pressed lips. 

"It looks good," JiU attempted to convince Yoohyeon, but her laughter bubbled through. Yoohyeon reached back blindly to swat at her, furrowed expression still locked on the uncooperative star. "No, it does! The tree is misplaced as it is; it'd be weird if it _were_ perfect. Here, look," JiU crossed back to the box, pulling out a door hanger of the words "Merry Christmas" in gold-plated plastic.

"What are you--?" Yoohyeon watched in horror as JiU hung the bulky lettering on the tree beneath the star. "Oh, that looks horrendous."

"Right, because up until now the pink yarn balls were pairing just splendidly with . . . whatever this is," JiU plucked at a small vial of layered sand, sealed with a cork and hanging from a loop of rope. 

"Gahyeon made that."

"No, I remember. But . . . why?" Yoohyeon's scowl loosened with a chuckle, letting up completely as JiU draped herself over Yoohyeon's sitting form, resting her chin atop Yoohyeon's crown as she continued to take in the hodge-podge that was their tree. "It doesn't matter how the tree looks, just that we have fun dressing it, right?"

"But it's going to be in _pictures_."

"Pictures of our first Christmas together, in the house we've _literally_ just moved into. The disarray is charming." Yoohyeon narrowed her eyes suspiciously up at JiU.

"Who are you and what have you done with my Minji?" JiU laughed. 

"Don't get me wrong; _I_ will need to look immaculate. Which will be easier if a tree of all things isn't upstaging me."

"Ah," Yoohyeon nodded sagely, seeing JiU's angle now. "Then I ought not wear my Christmas finest." 

JiU dipped lower so that her lips were level with Yoohyeon's ear, murmuring sweetly, "You're the only exception; with you on my arm, I am only elevated." She smiled as she felt the heat of Yoohyeon's blush rushing to her cheeks. Mercifully, JiU straightened back up, though her hands remained draped across Yoohyeon's clavicle in gentle possession as she glanced to the window. "The light's still strong."

"Good. I prefer natural lighting when I can get it." Yoohyeon eyed the star one last time, making peace with its lopsidedness. She turned her scrutiny instead to her clothes; JiU's button-down and denim jeans. Fantastic for moving day, not quite so festive for holiday cards. She lolled her head back to look up at JiU. "You should get changed so we can take advantage of it." JiU took a look at her own attire and seemed to agree.

"Any requests?" Yoohyeon considered JiU's question a beat before reaching up and gently pinching the quaint single pearl hanging from a delicate silver chain around JiU's neck. It matched the two pearl earrings chasing one another up JiU's earlobe.

"Anything that shows off the birthday present I got you." 

"Yes, ma'am," JiU hummed delightedly, pecking Yoohyeon on the forehead before heading into the hall. Out of sight, taking the stairs from the sound of it, JiU called back, "I found what you're wearing! I'll lay it out for you."

Yoohyeon breathed a small huff of amusement, pulling a record from a box labeled "vinyls" and experimentally arranging it on the empty mantle. "Yes, ma'am," she said to herself, JiU's footsteps fully receded.

* 🎁 * 🎁 * 🎁 * 🎁 *

"Wa! Look what you've done with the place!" JiU exclaimed, completely abandoning her plan to make a sweeping entrance as she took in the presents arranged artfully beneath the tree; their two best chairs side by side in front of the fireplace, angled inward just slightly; the mantle lightly peppered with keepsakes given to them by their parents, in its center, two record sleeves with vinyls peeking out. Yoohyeon had even dressed a stack of moving boxes with festive ribbon, as if they too were presents to be unwrapped, evening the level the Christmas tree created on the opposite side. JiU knew Yoohyeon to have a talent for staging, yet she never ceased being awed by her eye. 

"Never mind that, look at _you_!" Yoohyeon gasped, drinking in with delight a thick-knit collared pullover sweater layered atop a softly-pleated black ankle skirt. The black shouldn't have worked for holiday attire, but against the simple cream of JiU's sweater complimenting her raven hair and the soft red lipstick she had applied, the look was cozily elegant. And just as requested, JiU had left the buttons of the neckline undone, her silver-set pearl glinting like a star in the hollow of her exposed clavicle.

JiU twirled once, plucking up the sides of her skirt as she did so that the fabric caught her momentum and billowed out. "You like?"

"I _love_." JiU beamed, pleased with Yoohyeon's lingering admiration. She loathed to cut it short, but winter days were notoriously brief, and she was eager to see all their hard work immortalized in the best light they could get.

"Your turn!" 

❄ ❄ ❄

Yoohyeon smiled down at the outfit neatly splayed out across the naked mattress, seeing the thought in every piece. There was a two-tone dress sewn from two separate but complimentary plaid patterns that her mother had made for her, trims of white lace at the waistline and collar. The opportunity to wear such a homely dress hadn't recently arisen with Dreamcatcher's back-to-back comebacks and ensuing promotions; now Yoohyeon understood this dress couldn't have made just _any_ debut. Her mother would thrill at seeing it honored in such a way. 

The dress was tucked inside her favorite cardigan, a thin, gray, almost threadbare piece from how often she chose it. Yoohyeon adored it so for the fact that its long sleeves overtook her hands, a rarity in clothes for a woman her height. Again, gray was a questionable Christmas color, but just as JiU had chosen a skirt to compliment the hue of her hair, so too did she seem to choose Yoohyeon's gray cardigan. It offset the gray of her fallowing hair, currently resting between bleaches and dyes for the next comeback stage.

Yoohyeon donned the muted outfit, sighing in cozy satisfaction as she gave it a once-over in the bathroom mirror; JiU had even kept the silver-and-blue snow flurry earrings Yoohyeon was wearing in mind, the blue-and-white plaid matching perfectly. On the bathroom counter, Yoohyeon spied the red lipstick -- _Cherry Red_ ; of course it was -- that JiU had applied. Right beside it stood another tube, too precisely placed to be anything but purposeful. Yoohyeon plucked it up and read the label; _First Love's Blush_. By power of suggestion, she felt the exact shade tingle up to her cheeks. She uncapped the lipstick and applied it, smacking her lips to even out the faint gloss.

Yoohyeon noticed the front door left open at a crack as she came down the stairs. She popped briefly into the living room to see if JiU was still inside, spying her instead out on the lawn through the windows. She was awkwardly hugging a silver-wired reindeer as she waddled it over to its matching partner. Yoohyeon watched her place it, step back, pick it up and move it a few inches to the right, step back. Finally, JiU seemed please, clapping her hands together before making a frame out of her fingers, zooming it in and out in appraisal; Yoohyeon was struck with inspiration.

Unhitching her Canon from its tripod, Yoohyeon quietly opened the front door and the glass door shielding it, padding out just far enough onto the porch to angle the camera at JiU. She managed a few candid shots before JiU spotted her, posing flirtatiously before dissolving into a self-conscious smile. Yoohyeon made sure to capture that, too, before she let the camera down at her side. JiU approached, looking Yoohyeon up and down in open appreciation.

"You put on the lipstick," JiU murmured coyly, eyes lingering a beat longer on Yoohyeon's lips than they had anywhere else. Yoohyeon smiled warmly, wagging a single finger in the air between them.

"That just means no kisses until we get our photo." JiU pouted, clearly not having thought that far ahead.

"Shall we to it, then?" JiU suggested, pressing an insistent guiding palm at the small of Yoohyeon's back as she began to walk them inside. Yoohyeon plucked a flurry from JiU's hair, watching it melt instantaneously on the pad of her finger. She brushed the rest from JiU's shoulder before they could settle into the weave of her sweater.

They shot at least three dozen photographs in front of the fireplace, sometimes sitting, sometimes standing; a few waist to waist, arms wrapped around one another; another few with Yoohyeon sitting and JiU standing behind her, chin stacked on Yoohyeon's head like a JiYoo snowman. When they felt they had a winner among the bunch, they moved on to individual photographs that they could gift specifically to their separate families; posing with the tree; with a wire snowman that had yet to make it out on the lawn; near the window as they caught the slanted rays of the traveling sun. After it was all said and done, they sat on the floor in front of the tripod and began to cull through the abundance of them. 

JiU nuzzled her temple closer against Yoohyeon's; leaning into one another was an absolute necessity for them both to have equal view of the Canon's small display screen. When they spoke to one another, they could feel the vibrations of their words through their touching cheeks, the air passing their lips stirring their mingling locks of hair, silver against black.

"Oh, definitely that one for your parents," Yoohyeon remarked, stopping the scroll to tap the screen, currently paused on a photograph of JiU squatting beside the Christmas tree, cradling her chin in her palms with her elbows sat casually atop her knees. "You look so sweet, they'll adore it."

"Oh? The picture featuring our janky tree? Really?" JiU teased gently, jogging her shoulder against Yoohyeon. Yoohyeon sighed and relented her previous stance.

"You're right; it has a charm to it. It's grown on me. Though maybe because it looks like a little kid dressed it, and you fit the bill of that little kid to a tee." JiU laughed and examined the picture that much closer.

"I guess I kinda do, don't I? Ah, well. Anything to stay young." Yoohyeon had to turn her head only minutely to brush her lips against JiU's cheek. She was careful not to smear the light blanket of applied blush thereon.

"As if you're ancient. I, for one, think you only get better with age." Yoohyeon felt more than saw JiU's smile in the plumping cherry of her rising cheeks. "I mean, do you really wanna go back to MINX-era?" JiU shuddered.

"Don't you even utter that name in this house. This is a safe space." Yoohyeon grinned and sank lower so that she could rest her head on JiU's shoulder.

"It is, isn't it? I feel it already." 

Yoohyeon continued the scroll, the two of them trading compliments as they narrowed their Christmas card down to five potentials, then three, then two. Finally settling on one, Yoohyeon transferred it over to her phone where, with the aid of a freeware photo-editing program, they cobbled together a Christmas greeting. By the time they sent it out, the sun was nearly set, washing their near-empty living room in orange light. 

JiU rose to her feet and helped Yoohyeon to hers, pulling her closer rather than letting her go. "Put a song on. Something soft. I want to sway with you." Phone still in hand, Yoohyeon did as requested, pulling away from JiU just long enough to place her phone on the mantle as it began to pipe a slow R&B beat into the room. She settled into a lazy leading position, a palm at the small of JiU's back, another at her waist as JiU in turn drew her palms up Yoohyeon's chest to rest at the curve of her shoulders. They swayed in content silence, getting a feel for the beat and one another; syncing never took them longer than a breath, but they always took their time regardless. They had it in spades until the New Year.

"What do you think about going ice skating tomorrow?" JiU asked, lifting her temple from where it had been resting against Yoohyeon's chest to look her in the eye. "We have to go out for groceries anyway, and we live so close to the Gangneung Stadium now." Yoohyeon looked unimpressed.

"Isn't the point of owning a house never having to leave it? Why do we need to go grocery shopping, anyway? My mom dropped by earlier and stocked our fridge with some banchan and meals."

"I know, but I . . . thought I might try and cook our first Christmas meal, since it's just the two of us this year. The ice-skating is to work up an appetite, in case I botch it; then it'll taste good purely by virtue of being edible. Which I hope it will, at the very least, be that." Yoohyeon marveled in silence for a moment.

"Who knew a house was all you needed to fully unlock your innate Mom mode. Next you'll be home-baking Pie and Cherry's dog treats." JiU blushed and looked away guiltily.

"Actually, I have a couple recipes bookmarked . . ." Yoohyeon kissed her then, a lingering press that mottled their lipsticks slightly with pigment from the other. Wide-eyed, JiU smiled quizzically at Yoohyeon. "What was that for?"

"I love you, you know? And I already love this new chapter we're starting. I'd love to go ice-skating with you, and eat your experimental dinner. I want to do it all with you." JiU's smile was all teeth as it spread from ear to ear.

"It's a date, then," she cooed, sliding a palm up to the nape of Yoohyeon's neck.

They continued to sway until the sun set fully, then tucked into the dishes prepared for them, not bothering to set up chairs or a table but instead sitting on the floor in front of their window, looking out across the street at other homes more festively decorated. No string of lights, however, beat the moonlight twinkling off the falling flurries of snow as they reset the ground's trodden canvas for a fresh new day.

[](https://ibb.co/mqYw5P9)


	2. No Matter What, You're An Angel To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very merry JiYoo Christmas Eve.

Being Christmas Eve, Gangneung Stadium was brimming with families wanting a fun, winter-themed activity to exhaust their eager children before Santa Haraboji's visit. Along with two pairs of ice skates, JiU rented knee and elbow pads. She handed them to Yoohyeon, who accepted them gladly and unquestioningly until she realized JiU hadn't a set for herself, moving straight into lacing an ice skate on one foot.

"Someone's confident in their abilities," Yoohyeon teased, velcroing an elbow pad over the sleeve of her sweater. "Or too vain to practice safety."

"A little bit of both," JiU confirmed with a shameless smile, making a show of tossing her hair over her shoulder as she shifted attention to donning the other skate. 

Yoohyeon reached over and twirled a red-streaked highlight of JiU's hair around her index finger. "You'll be the most gorgeous woman in this entire stadium even with the pads on. You should reconsider." JiU raised her head, becoming aware of the snare of Yoohyeon's finger with the shift. "You're skating with me, after all. I _am_ going down, one way or another, and I'll undoubtedly take you with me." Yoohyeon tugged just sharp enough to get her point across, eliciting a soft sucking of air through JiU's teeth as JiU's eyes closed, feeling the sensation bolt and blossom in her stomach like a swig of hot cider. 

JiU couldn't help that Yoohyeon's innocent concern colored differently with her arousal jogged; if Yoohyeon only knew how easily she affected her, she would never face a single day without confidence. "Is that a promise?" JiU murmured, glancing up through hooded eyes that took Yoohyeon by surprise. And then flustered her. 

Straddling her original intent and a bashful grasp of JiU's double entendre, Yoohyeon answered with a chaste, nervous chuckle, "Oh, it's a guarantee," as she unraveled her finger and smoothed out JiU's hair. 

JiU's heat gelled into warm adoration; how attentive Yoohyeon was with her. Kind, infinitely. And gentle. Too soft to ever lord power over anyone, even if JiU would be more than happy to have her do so every now and again. Leaning over, JiU kissed Yoohyeon's cheek and acquiesced, happy to bend for the woman who bent backwards for her. "I'll be right back, then."

❄ ❄ ❄

As they approached the edge of the ice, JiU knelt before Yoohyeon, removing first her own skate guards and then patting Yoohyeon's calf so that she could do the same for her. "Up," JiU prompted. Yoohyeon shakily raised one leg as she gripped the rink wall for balance, then steadied herself with a palm at JiU's shoulder as she lifted the other. JiU slid Yoohyeon's skate guards from each skate in turn, then stood and offered the crook of her elbow.

"Ready?" JiU asked. Yoohyeon squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head rapidly, but threaded her arm through JiU's all the same. She squeaked in fright as she felt JiU step ahead onto the ice, sustaining the squeal as JiU's pull forward forced her to either take a step or fall forward on her face. Yoohyeon held a mental image of Bambi's first wobbling steps out onto the lake as she felt her own long legs teeter dangerously beneath her, feet threatening to roll out or in with her every twitching adjustment. "It's easier to stay up when you're in motion. I'm going to start us, okay?" Eyes still squeezed shut, Yoohyeon bit her bottom lip and nodded, clutching to JiU for dear life. She heard the blades of JiU's skate lift and clink back to the ice, felt and tried desperately not to fight the beginning of momentum. "Don't lock your knees. Just breathe. You're already doing it." Yoohyeon pried one eye open, temporarily abandoning her apprehension at the sight of JiU's profile; the look of easy focus in her eyes as she arced a wide pendulum with her outward arm, patiently building speed for two; the pink kiss of exertion in cold weather rosying her nose and cheeks. 

JiU glanced back, lingering to bestow a smile when she noticed Yoohyeon's eyes opening. "See?" She gestured to the wide expanse of rink, in which they had somehow made it nearer to the center, the safety of an exit long behind them. Yoohyeon gaped at the distance they had made, then looked down at her own two feet, still wobbling but gliding steadily beneath her. She laughed, a sound of nerves and giddiness all in one.

"Well, look at that. Who would have thought? Klutz on ice!" Yoohyeon braved adjusting her weight, getting a feel for how her motions translated to the linear blades beneath her, emboldened by JiU's presence alongside.

"Liberating, right? Like self-powered flight. I'm going to let you fly solo now, okay?"

"You're going to what? Minji!" Yoohyeon scrabbled for JiU as JiU unlinked their arms and pushed off on her skates for a burst of speed, putting herself a few yards ahead of Yoohyeon before she turned and began to coast backwards. Yoohyeon glowered at her, arms splayed out on either side, looking like a soccer goalie anticipating the direction of an incoming kick.

"Catch me," JiU encouraged, maintaining as slow a speed as she could without stalling.

"Catch _me_!" Yoohyeon yelped, arms beginning to slant back as she attempted to straighten her posture. She had lost all of JiU's borrowed momentum and was now staggering forward with Bambi steps, praying with each lift of her foot that it would land and stick and not send her down hard on her ass.

"You can do it, I know you can. You just have to catch up to me and then I promise I've got you for the rest of the lap."

"I want japchae for dinner, like my mom makes. And kimchi-jjigae with pork belly. You have to make me both, Minji!" Yoohyeon yelled across the ice, voice wobbling with every awkward lurch forward as she tried to close the ever-moving gap between she and JiU. JiU tried desperately not to laugh.

"Okay, I will. I'll try if you try."

"No try!" Yoohyeon barked. "Just do! I swear to God, Minji, when I reach you . . ."

" _When_? That's what I like to hear," JiU encouraged, paying no heed to the threat she knew to be empty; Yoohyeon couldn't even land on how to end the sentence. She was too determined now to reach JiU, making unconventional but definitive progress, stepping and slipping her way forward rather than smoothly gliding. JiU came to a stop with Yoohyeon only a few feet away. At the last leg of Yoohyeon's struggle, JiU extended her arm out. Yoohyeon latched to it, pulling with enough force to propel them both into a subdued collision. JiU cradled Yoohyeon's head to her shoulder as Yoohyeon clutched to her middle, huffing and scowling.

"It better taste just like omma's recipe," Yoohyeon muttered bitterly after catching her breath. JiU shushed her soothingly, stroking her hair.

"You did it, puppy! I knew you could." And just like that, Yoohyeon's wrath was abated.

* ☃ * ☃ * ☃ * ☃ *

They took the long route home from the market, cutting through a neighborhood known for its Christmas lights. JiU coasted the car at a crawl down the streets, making sure to notice every lawn Yoohyeon pointed out, stopping here and there to allow Yoohyeon to take a quick snap with her phone camera, all to the soundtrack of Yoohyeon's holiday playlist. 

Returning home felt surreal; pulling into a driveway instead of a car park, spying a Christmas tree -- _their_ Christmas tree through the window as they approached the front door. Yoohyeon nuzzled at JiU's nape as JiU fumbled with the keys, still not used to picking out the house key from the others on her key ring; Yoohyeon certainly wasn't helping her concentration.

"Aaahhh!" JiU pitched in a muted, monotone screech, hands flying up into her hair as she looked helplessly down at the keys that had slipped her grasp. Yoohyeon knelt to scoop them up and, still behind JiU, fit the key in the lock and gave it a turn, pushing the door open. She passed the sack of groceries cradled in one arm into JiU's care.

"I'll get the rest from the car. I'm starving. When do you think my japchae will be ready?" JiU gave a beleaguered sigh in response to Yoohyeon's puckish grin. Peeking into the top of the paper sack, JiU hung her head in resignation; not only had Yoohyeon hand-selected the ingredients for her requested dish at the store, she had made sure they all wound up in the same sack. The exact sack she had just handed off. She could really be a dog with a bone, sometimes.

"I'll get right on it, jagiya," JiU cooed, giving Yoohyeon a playful push out of the doorway. 

* 🎁 * 🎁 * 🎁 * 🎁 *

JiU's planned menu, while meager compared to the feasts her mother could whip up, was still a tall order for an unpracticed cook. Japchae, albeit not Mrs. Kim's recipe, had already been on her list. Also on the list, bulgogi, kimchi (which she guessed would be in stew form, now), purple rice, steamed pear for dessert and some home-brewed sujeonggwa to wash it all down with. Along with Yoohyeon's Schweppe's, of course.

As Yoohyeon brought in the last of the groceries, JiU rummaged through yet another cardboard box for a boiling pot and strainer.

"Do you need some help?" Yoohyeon asked, beginning to unsack the groceries. JiU pursed her lips together and shook her head. As an afterthought, she paused and looked to Yoohyeon in earnest, tamping down the mounting sense of overwhelmed she was feeling with everything she had put on her plate; hopefully, everything would make it on to the serving plates when it was all said and done. 

"Maybe some company?"

Yoohyeon finished putting the groceries away, then pulled a stool up to the kitchen island, where JiU began to lay out her dishes and prepare her _mise en place_. She watched JiU curiously as JiU pulled up a Youtube video on her phone. Following the sound of knife chops and a whistling intro, a woman with a distinctive Korean accent introduced herself in English, along with the recipe she planned to walk her viewer through.

"Maangchi?" Yoohyeon asked, reading the channel name off of JiU's phone as she turned it briefly to glance at the screen. "Wouldn't it be easier to follow a Korean speaker?"

"I've watched the video at least a dozen times; it's more about watching her technique. Plus, she's funny; have you seen her videos before? Anyway, I have the recipe here," JiU lifted a sheet of paper filled with her hasty handwriting, looked at it, frowned. "Wait, no," she put it down and reached for another recipe, "here". JiU ran a hand through her hair fretfully, then again as she remembered she ought to tie it up. She looped the scrunchie at her wrist twice around her gathered ponytail.

"Have you practiced this recipe?"

"In theory," JiU answered distractedly, checking on the boil of a pot behind her. Yoohyeon sifted through JiU's recipes with her back turned, smiling as she came across a sheet labelled "Yoohyeon's Favorite Japchae". Reading through it, Yoohyeon confirmed it to be what she thought.

"When'd you find the time to get this?" Yoohyeon asked, holding up her mother's recipe for JiU's inquiring eyes to land on. JiU squinted as she tried to make out her own handwriting; she'd put away her glasses since they got out of the car, likely to avoid steaming them up as she flitted between dishes.

"When you were returning our skates; your mom was more than happy to share the recipe. We have to send her a picture of how it turns out, by the way." JiU turned back to the stove, adjusting the temperature of one burner, lidding the pot on top of another. Yoohyeon watched her juggle it all with doting eyes. 

"I wonder how you're real, sometimes." As busy as she was, JiU came to a stop at the veneration in Yoohyeon's tone, facing her with a tilt of her head.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you. You didn't _actually_ have to make my mom's recipe. You didn't have to make any of this, really. We could've picked something up, eaten leftovers. You're just . . . wow, you exist? Really?" JiU blushed, at a loss for what to say. A bubbling pot in the corner of her eye pardoned her from finding words as she rushed to lift it off the burner, waving a hand above it to batter down the foam threatening to spill over. Yoohyeon got to her feet, taking scope of everything JiU had working. "Let me help you?" This time, JiU accepted the offer.

With Yoohyeon's help, the experience became not only manageable, but relaxed. JiU could take the time to sample her dishes as they came along, which she did frequently, sneaking in an entire meal before the actual dinner with as many times as she dipped a ladle into the kimchi stew and plucked up pieces of the resting bulgogi.

They decided to eat right off the island, clearing it of the mess they made and dressing it with some semblance of formality; namely, placing a large bell with holly berries between them as a centerpiece and using holly berry-printed napkins upon which to rest their utensils. They saved the sujeonggwa for after, letting it chill in the freezer as they tasted and remarked on each of the dishes. JiU's attempt at Mrs. Kim's Japchae was decidedly a winner, Yoohyeon making sure to have three helpings, slurping each one up noisily in compliment to the chef. They fed each other the steamed pears, laughing and mourning the bites that missed their mouths and fell to the floor. By the time they cleaned up the kitchen afterward, they had re-whet their appetites enough to enjoy their dessert drink, taking it by the fireplace. Thankfully the fire pit was gas-fueled; it lit with no more fuss than the turn of a knob and the toss of a match.

"It's tradition in my family to open just one present Christmas Eve," JiU remarked, drawing her gaze from the entrancing dance of the flames to discover the play of the firelight even more enchanting in Yoohyeon's pupils.

"Yeah?" Yoohyeon smiled broadly, left cheek dimpling. "Mine too. It's a good one; we should keep it." JiU nodded, preoccupied as she brought the pad of her thumb up to fill Yoohyeon's dimple, brushing it fondly. Yoohyeon blinked, somewhat puzzled, but leaned into the touch all the same.

"Sorry, it's just-- you're unreal, too. Sometimes I find myself reaching for you just to prove you're not a dream. I was so proud of you today, at the skating rink. You never cease to amaze." Yoohyeon smiled shyly, reluctant to own the compliment as she shrugged.

"So I only fell twice. You can apparently skate _backwards_." JiU plucked the near-empty glass from Yoohyeon's grip, placing it aside so that she could take Yoohyeon's hand in her own, massaging in warmth to combat the chill the drink had let seep in.

"It's not about what you can do, it's about what you _decide_ to do, despite doubt or trepidation. You do things anyway. And then the things you do automatically, the things you never give yourself credit for because they're just second-nature to you; looking out for me. Helping others. You're an angel on earth, I want you to know that." JiU drew Yoohyeon's hand to her lips and kissed her knuckle, glancing up imploringly. "Please know that." Yoohyeon blushed and nodded softly, her smile small but unfeigned. 

"Pick a present?" Yoohyeon suggested, laughing gleefully when JiU did just that, throwing her arms around Yoohyeon and wrangling her halfway into her lap. Yoohyeon wriggled away playfully. "No, one you can unwrap!" JiU smiled sweetly, an expression of innocent cluelessness as she began to peel Yoohyeon's cardigan from off her shoulder. "One from under the tree!" Yoohyeon propelled JiU toward the presents, tugging her cardigan back up and pinning it to her shoulder, eyeing JiU distrustfully until JiU's mischievous hands were instead sifting through boxes.

"'To Cherry, from Pie'," JiU read off of one tag, grinning and holding up the not at all conspicuously-bone-shaped gift. "Oh, what a sweetheart. Cherry is going to have to run to the store and get something for Pie."

"No need. I shopped for Cherry, too," Yoohyeon pointed to a small, rectangular box, which JiU picked up and shook curiously. "It's a dog sweater. Here," Yoohyeon crawled over to join JiU, reaching for the gift she had hoped JiU would grab from the beginning. "Open this one. I can't wait until morning." JiU received the package with a curious sparkle in her eyes, searching Yoohyeon's expression for any hint as to what it might be. Yoohyeon merely nodded toward the package, urging her on with a demure smile.

JiU flipped the present over, running her finger beneath the seam of the wrapping paper to pop the tape. She drew the flaps of paper away, revealing a leather photo album, the words "Some Kind of Wonderful" embossed in gold along the cover. JiU opened it to the front page, then to the next and the next, quickly putting together that this was an album completely comprised of candids of _her_. As she turned back to the front page, ready now to study the shots Yoohyeon had taken on the sly, Yoohyeon explained.

"I've been putting this album together since the beginning of the year. It's sort of a Christmas and New Year's gift all in one. Shots in my camera reel I set aside for myself." 

Like a scrapbook, alongside each photograph were jotted words or pressed mementos relevant to the moment captured; a petal from the lily Yoohyeon had laced in JiU's hair and later captured under the bough of a willow; the words in Hangul, " _what's brighter? the sun or her smile? I'm blinded either way_ ", scrawled in Yoohyeon's handwriting, swarmed with hearts like the doodlings of a lovesick teenager, pasted beside a photograph of JiU squinting up at the sky with a smile, shielding her eyes with the umbrella of her palm; the paint card of the color they decided on together for their bedroom walls, overlapped by a photograph of JiU in overalls, as much paint on her clothes and down her arms as had made it on the wall. Each photograph was dated and its location recorded for posterity. JiU was only halfway through the album when tears began to warp her vision. 

Yoohyeon watched her anxiously, gnawing at her bottom lip as she tilted her head to glimpse JiU's eyes, positive what she was seeing were happy tears but not positive _enough_. "Do you like it?" 

JiU looked up, swiping a palm over her smile to brush away the tears that fell, making sure to dry her hand across her sleeve before turning to the next page. She sniffled and laughed softly, tracing her fingertips over the sentimentality bursting from each page. "How long did this take you? Hours across days. Across _months_."

"I know," Yoohyeon's knee jogged in anticipation. "There were so many times I wanted to gift it to you earlier, but I knew it had to be complete -- perfect -- before I did. And I'm glad I waited. Turn to the last page." JiU did, holding her place with a finger so that she wouldn't overlook any of the in-between. The last shot was taken just yesterday, JiU smiling sheepishly down at the ground of their front lawn, hand in mid-motion tousling her hair out of her face. Behind her were the two wire reindeer she had just placed. In English calligraphy beneath the photograph, Yoohyeon had written, "All I want for Christmas is Ji U". JiU laughed in delight at the pun, masking the full of her mirthful smile behind a hand.

"Ah, I don't want you to open mine, now," JIU's joy morphed to chagrin as she turned back to her place in the album, admiring the homemade charm that screamed Yoohyeon with every detail. "It's so impersonal in comparison."

"I'm sure I'll love it. Which one?" When JiU refused to point out her gift among the others, Yoohyeon began searching for herself, shrugging off JiU's protesting noises and tugs. She found it behind a package addressed from JiU's brother and looked to JiU as she pulled it into her lap. JiU's brow furrowed, but she had since ceased her protest and moved on to resignation, eyeing the box dubiously.

"A camera case?" Yoohyeon asked, the box giving away its contents as soon as she tore the paper away. 

"And extras," JiU murmured. Yoohyeon opened the box up and pulled the weatherproof carrier with its many pockets and cavities out to examine. In one pocket, she found a wrist cord personalized with a repeated image of Pie's tongue-lolling face. Inside was also a bottle of lens cleaner, a matching Pie-themed lens cloth and two separate CD jewel cases; one labeled "Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan", the other "Adobe Premiere Pro". 

"For your vlog ventures; I know you've been wanting to get more involved in the editing process. It's not much, I know. You can pick something else out next time we . . ." JiU trailed off as Yoohyeon placed the present aside and crawled over to her, her intent clear and JiU more than happy to receive it. She cupped Yoohyeon's jaw as their lips met, smiling into the kiss before deepening it. She tasted the cinnamon of the sujeonggwa lingering on Yoohyeon's tongue, chasing the flavor as Yoohyeon rocked back on her shins, alleviating the bulk of her weight off from her knees; if they had only thought to lay down a blanket, JiU might have pursued Yoohyeon until she was folded backward against the floor. As it were, she let Yoohyeon adjust more comfortably back on to the seat of her behind.

Yoohyeon pulled the wrist cord from the case, donning it like an overly-loose bracelet.

"So you don't drop your expensive camera," JiU explained, then with a knowing smile, added, "klutz." Yoohyeon nodded sagely.

"Protecting my assets and supporting my ventures; if that's not love, what is? Honestly, Minji, I love it. Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

Yoohyeon gathered the discarded wrapping paper and tossed it in the kitchen trash, refilling both their glasses while she was at it. She made a brief stop at her phone, switching her playlist from their now-overplayed Christmas favorites to one labeled "low-key", then rejoined JiU at her side, hugging her arm in her lap as she watched JiU go through the rest of the album. 

A slow-tempo bass and hi-hat rhythm hijacked Yoohyeon's body as it came on, putting her, and thus JiU, into an easy back and forth sway. She was surprised to discover she had retained more of the lyrics than she would have guessed as she sang quietly along to the English chorus; she was more surprised when JiU's voice joined her for the Korean verse. Yoohyeon yielded the verse, opting instead to watch and listen as JiU closed her eyes and sank into the sentiment. Only when JiU began to hum the syllables she couldn't quite remember, eyes opening and fretting in Yoohyeon's direction, did Yoohyeon join back in to help her along, receding into supporting vocals when JiU was back on track. They ebbed and flowed back and forth, parceling out parts in real time with a level of intuitive synchronicity that only came from years of coexistence.

As they brought the song home in unison on its final sentiment, "salanghae", JiU raised a finger heart between them, throwing Yoohyeon into a turtling tizzy as she shrank into herself with a giddy smile. 

"We sounded good together, didn't we?" Yoohyeon boasted in quiet awe, unfurling to lay her head against JiU's shoulder, staring into the dancing flames of the hearth. 

"We always do." JiU rested a cheek against Yoohyeon's crown, finding it was the warmth of her nearness rather than the fire that kept the cold at bay. "Merry Christmas, jagiya."

"Merry Christmas, nae sarang."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And a happy New Year. Cherish the small comforts as you move into 2021; kindness will save the world when it seems nothing else can. Look for the helpers, and when you can't find them, become one yourself. We all have the capacity to be an angel to someone.


End file.
